 Biography of Joseph C. Phillips Jr.
To speak with Joseph C. Phillips, Jr., and to hear his music, you would imagine an optimistic philosopher, or a student of ancient religious texts. While philosophy and ancient texts are of interest and influence, in truth, this new music composer is more a scholar of feeling than thinking – a conduit of emotional imagination, manifested through a set of composed music which is at the same time new as it is familiar.
Joe Phillips' compositions may be classified as classical to some, jazz to others. But his ensemble Numinous – whose second recording Vipassana was released by innova recordings in April of this year – defies any classic genre definitions. Rather, the music moves fluidly between genres to create a sense of wonder, mystery, and beauty.
Joe earned his degree from the University of Maryland, College Park. While teaching high school and leading award–winning student bands in Washington State, he earned an Educator of the Year award from the city of Bellevue just outside Seattle and was a finalist again two years later. Through his time in Washington State Phillips nurtured his interest in composing his own music and joined the Seattle Young Composers Collective. He was unable to ignore the temptation to do something with his own music, however and the opportunity to bring jazz composer Maria Schneider out to his school, Interlake High School, for a student workshop and concert gave him the inspiration he was looking for – and a familiar face in New York City when he was ready to pursue his own music career and become a composer himself.
"I was following my passion," Phillips says, "and what Maria's music did for me was the same as what John Cage's philosophical musical thought did to many other composers: give me a sense of the possible and a confidence to follow my own musical direction. "
Inspired by Schneider, as well as Steve Reich and John Adams and many other key figures in new music, in addition to visual and film artists, scientific, philosophical and social thought Phillips says, "I try to take all of them in, and in my own way, create my own musical world. "
Phillips' unique style has attracted plenty of attention so far. He was awarded a Meet the Composers grant and an American Music Center award. He was a member of the pretigious BMI Jazz Composers Workshop from where he was a finalist for the BMI Foundation Charlie Parker Composition Award, and also a finalist for a Sundance Film Composers Lab Fellowship. In addition to the worldwide performances of his works, including the 2003 Steve Reich Festival at the Royal Conservatory in The Hague, Netherlands, several new works have been commissioned by the St. Olaf Band and Jazz Band, the University of Maryland Symphonic Band, Take Dance Company, Edisa Weeks, and violinist Ana Milosavljevic.
In addition to his composing, and work with his ensemble Numinous, Phillips also founded Pulse, a federation of six award–winning composers that defies easy categorization. Indeed, Phillips continues to define himself without any clear definition. That's exactly how he likes it. Regardless of genre or the trappings of traditional classification, Phillips says, "I want to make connections with the audience."
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